Author's note: If you're a Raura shipper, please read this author's note. If not, you can continue reading. Thanks for reading, by the way.
You're probably aware of the longstanding feud between Raura and Rourtney shippers. And there's a lot of hate. A lot of Raura shippers hate Rourtney shippers, and even Courtney herself, and a lot of Rourtney shippers hate Raura shippers, and even Laura herself. But several days ago, it went too far. A very well-known (but controversial) Raura shipper on Instagram announced that she would start supporting Courtney, and a Rourtney shipper replied saying that she would also support Laura. Only a few days later, the Raura account was hacked by the Rourtney shipper. Twice. The first time, the fandom came together and saved it. The second time, we weren't so lucky. I don't use Instagram much, but I saw it all happen. To all Raura shippers: if you support Courtney, or at least respect her, thank you and keep doing that. If you hate Courtney, I ask you to step back and consider. Why don't you like her? Is it only because of your love of Raura? Because I believe that everyone should have their own beliefs that should at least be accepted by others, even if they don't agree.
Ally's POV
"How was the date?" Trish asks me.
"I don't know what to think, Trish." I reply. "I thought I was over Dallas. But after today...I realize that I'm not."
"That's great!" she exclaims. "Then Austin can go out with Kira or Cassidy, and you can go out with Dallas!"
"But it's not that easy," I reply, walking around the store and sorting the guitars. "I still really like Austin, and I don't know if I like Dallas that much."
"Come on, Ally!" she exclaims. "You really like Dallas!"
"I know I do, Trish. But I think I want to be with Austin." I confess.
"Okay, okay!" she replies. "But if he chooses Kira or Cassidy, at least accept the fact that you have Dallas."
I continue pacing around the store, organizing instruments while I'm at it.
"I don't want to feel like I'm just with Dallas because he's my second choice, though," I explain, "I don't know what to do!"
As if an echo, I hear another, louder voice exclaim, "I don't know what to do!"
I hear the door of Sonic Boom slam open as Austin walks in, lamenting to Dez.
"I don't know what to do!" he repeats.
"Hey...guys," I say awkwardly. "What are you doing?"
Austin blushes a little, which make my heart melt a lot. He's just so cute!
"Hey...Ally," he says awkwardly. "Hey, Trish!"
"Austin doesn't know whether to choose Kira, Cassidy, or Ally." Dez explains. "Personally, I'm on Team Ally."
I blush. "Don't let Dez's bias get in the way of your choice, Austin. Don't worry too much about it, I'm sure you'll figure something out soon."
It's a bit of a lie. I really want Dez's bias to influence Austin's decision. I want to be with him! But at the same time, a lot of things could go wrong, risking our partnership and even our friendship. So would it be better for me to get out of the way and choose Dallas?
As if she's reading my mind, Trish begins speaking quite loudly. "Austin, I'll have you know that Ally had a great time on her date with Dallas. She's reconsidering her feelings, you know."
"Trish!" I exclaim, pushing her aside.
"Is it true, Ally?" Austin asks. "Because if you want to be with Dallas, I'm really happy for you two."
"No!" I exclaim. "I mean...yes! I don't know? Let's not talk about this right now."
"Okay, but I thought I would just tell you and Trish something." he replies. "I'm going on a date with Cassidy tonight. Just to get to know her. You know how I really liked her in the summer, but I realize that I never really got to know her. And maybe she's not right for me. Maybe she is, but I have to get to know her before I really know."
I nod, signaling my approval. I don't know whether I want him to like Cassidy or not. If he ends up liking Cassidy, he'll probably dump Kira, and then Jimmy would probably get really mad. And I would be a little sad, but at least I still would have Dallas. But if Austin realizes that Cassidy's not the girl for him, he has to choose between me or Kira, and I have a feeling that it wouldn't be an easy decision for him at all.
"So, do you two have a song for Ally's mom's party?" Trish asks.
"I don't know if I'm going to sing, Trish." I reply. "I mean, you know I have stage fright-"
"Whoa, slow down!" she exclaims. "I thought Austin was singing! Why would you sing? You have stage fright and you would make a complete fool of yourself!"
I roll my eyes. "Thanks, Trish." I say sarcastically.
"I decided that I'm only going to sing if Ally does it with me." Austin explains. "I think she can do it. Besides, she's going to have to conquer her stage fright at some point or another. Why not do it now?"
He wraps his arm around me and smiles. I look up at him and smile back.
"Good point," Trish admits, "but still, Ally has stage fright! Ally, are you sure you can do this?"
"I don't know," I sigh. "I really do want to conquer my stage fright. I don't always want to be backstage, watching. Don't get me wrong, I love watching Austin perform, but I want to be able to do it, too. And not just in a costume like Galexis Nova. I want to perform as me. But I'm still really scared."
"I get it." she replies. "But whether you're performing or not, Austin still needs a song to perform."
"I told you, I'm not performing without Ally." he says stubbornly.
"Austin, at least consider." I say, turning to look at him. "You know I want to perform, but I don't know if I can do it. I promise, I'll try. But if I can't, someone still has to perform."
"I can perform!" Dez exclaims. "I'll do my world-famous tap dancing act!"
"Okay, fine!" Austin says quickly. "I'll perform. But Ally, you have to promise me that you'll at least get on that stage. If you can't do it, I'll sing alone. But it's no fun when I'm singing solo."
"Hey, it's like that song you wrote a while ago!" Trish exclaims.
"There's no way I can make it without ya, do it without ya, be here without ya," Dez sings in his worst falsetto. "It's no fun when you're doing it solo... you know, because Austin said that it's no fun when he's singing solo!"
"Ally, you know you can always come to me." Austin tells me.
"Hey, that could make a good song lyric!" I exclaim, trying not to look him in the eye. "You can come to me. Sounds good!"
"Ally, look at me." he says, turning my head so I'm forced to look him in the eye. "You can do it. You can conquer your stage fright!"
I try not to look at him because I know that it'll cause emotions to surface, no matter how hard I try to keep them away.
"O-okay," I finally say. "Okay, I'll do it. I'm going to conquer my stage fright!"
Instead of replying, Austin wraps his arms around me in a hug. He pulls me so close to him that all I can do is hug him back while trying not to suffocate. It's not a bad feeling, though. It's different from all our previous hugs. It's more than friendly, at least that's how it seems to me. And it feels good.
"Guys..." Trish says, somewhat...worriedly?
"Mm-hm?" I mumble, not letting go of Austin.
"Guys!" she exclaims, just as the door slams open.
"Austin, I cannot believe you!" a voice exclaims as we all spin to face the door.
"Kira, what's going on?" he asks. "I thought you didn't want to talk to me until I made a decision?"
"I was going to apologize for acting so annoying and selfish, but I see that now you've made your decision and you didn't even bother to tell me." she says spitefully.
"Kira, look, this is all a misunderstanding!" he replies. "I still haven't made my decision, and besides, I'm still going out with Cassidy tonight."
"You're what?" she exclaims.
"Yeah, I just wanted to get to know her better, see what she's really like..." he trails off. "Look, Kira, if you're going to act so jealous, I'd rather not be with you."
Her face instantly goes from an expression of anger to one of dismay. "Austin, I'm sorry. I'll try to be more understanding. But I really, really like you."
Her face visibly softens and I realize that she's not really a jealous girl. She just likes Austin a lot, and she has a reason to be defensive. After all, they were going out in the first place. I would probably feel the same way. In a way, I do. Don't get me wrong, Austin liked Kira before he liked me, but we've been friends for way longer than we've known Kira. In fact, we even met Cassidy before we met Kira.
"Okay, Kira-" Austin says.
He's interrupted by his phone ringing. He quickly glances at it before hurriedly putting it away.
"I was supposed to be at Melody's Diner ages ago!" he exclaims. "Gotta go, talk to you later!"
He runs out the door, barrelling past Kira, on his way to his date with Cassidy. The rest of us watch silently. Trish is the one who breaks the silence.
"Hey, do you think Mindy would hire me back?"
Author's note: thanks for reading! Sorry as always if the next chapter takes a while. Strangely enough, I seem to have more time to write during the school year. Or maybe this summer's just extra busy.
